Vehicular homicide in Colorado

What the charge means

Colorado's vehicular homicide statute, C.R.S. 18-3-106, covers a reckless version and two impaired driving versions.

• Reckless vehicular homicide. Prosecutors must prove you drove a motor vehicle in a reckless manner, meaning you consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk, and that your driving was the proximate cause of another person's death. Proximate cause means the death followed from your driving in a natural and probable way.
• Impaired driving vehicular homicide. Prosecutors must prove you drove while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both, or while your ability was impaired by them, and that this conduct was the proximate cause of a death. These versions are strict liability crimes. The prosecution does not need to show bad driving, only impairment plus causation.

Common scenarios include a fatal crash after drinking, a passenger killed in a single car rollover, and high speed collisions. Causation is often the real battleground. If an independent, unforeseeable event actually caused the death, that can break the chain of proximate cause, and crash reconstruction and toxicology evidence deserve close scrutiny in every one of these cases.

Classification and sentencing

The felony class depends on which version is charged, with ranges set by C.R.S. 18-1.3-401.

• Reckless vehicular homicide is a class 4 felony. If the court imposes prison, the presumptive range is 2 to 6 years, followed by 3 years of mandatory parole. The fine range is $2,000 to $500,000.
• DWAI based vehicular homicide is also a class 4 felony. Since March 1, 2022, driving while ability impaired that causes a death is charged under its own subsection, with the same class 4 ranges: 2 to 6 years if prison is imposed, 3 years of mandatory parole, and a fine of $2,000 to $500,000.
• DUI based vehicular homicide is a class 3 felony. If the court imposes prison, the presumptive range is 4 to 12 years, followed by 5 years of mandatory parole. The fine range is $3,000 to $750,000.

Those ranges apply only if the court orders prison. The statute does not mandate prison for every vehicular homicide conviction, so probation or community corrections are legally possible, though courts treat a death case with great weight. Judges can also sentence outside the presumptive range when they find aggravating or mitigating circumstances, and each person who died supports a separate count.

DUI based cases usually include separate impaired driving charges, and a conviction triggers a driver's license revocation through the DMV.

What else it touches

The consequences of a felony homicide conviction extend well past the sentence.

• Firearms. A felony conviction bars gun possession under Colorado and federal law.
• Immigration. For noncitizens, a felony conviction involving a death and impaired driving requires careful analysis before any plea. It can affect status, admissibility, and naturalization.
• Driver's license. The DMV revokes the license after conviction, separate from anything the criminal court orders.
• Record sealing. Dismissed or acquitted charges can generally be sealed. Sealing rules for felony convictions are technical, involve waiting periods, and are narrower for the most serious offenses, so eligibility has to be checked case by case.

We defend vehicular homicide cases across Colorado, and a consultation about the specific facts is the right place to get real answers.